Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

I am a teacher.  17 years teaching at the public schools in both middle school and high school mathematics.  I still teach, but work now on the business end of things, teaching teachers how to effectively integrate technology into mathematics instruction and trying my best to support teachers whenever I can. But...I am going to come out and say right now - if I had to go back to public school teaching, I wouldn't do it.  Nor would I encourage anyone considering this as a career to go there. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love teaching.  It is my passion. Yet, when I look at the constant berating that teachers get these days, the blame that is placed on them for the failure of the educational system in our country, the amount of work and time that teachers put in versus the benefits they receive...well, it's not worth it. Are there terrible teachers out there?  You bet.  I had the 'pleasure' of working with many in my years of teaching and supervising...

Well, as I mentioned previously I was going to Atlantic City for the NCTM Regional math conference.  Today was the first day at the booth, and it was a very busy day - lots of teachers stopping by to check out the new booth and play with Sketchpad, TinkerPlots and Fathom .  I spent the whole day talking to so many different folks - teachers, administrators, students, and it was so fun to see them trying out the software, or help them find some resources to support their own learning of the software or find an upcoming lesson to use. I think the overall message I got out of today is that the technology is being used, but teachers really want and need curriculum and support/resources they can use right away because they don't have the time to search or create on their own.  I think it's one of the strongest components of what Key's software offers - (shameless plug, but hey - I am at a math conference!) - we have great software but more importantly we don't leave teach...

In my perusal of Twitter postings this morning, I ran across this link "What's the Most Important Lesson You Learned from a Teacher?" Touching story about remembering teachers who have impacted your life.  If you haven't done it, with Facebook and Twitter and other social media avenues, it's easy to find that teacher (or teachers) who made some impact in your life.  Admit it - there's at least one - so go find them and thank them. With the constant bashing teachers get for the failed education system, it would be nice to get some positive feedback that yes, indeed, they did make a difference in at least one of the hundreds of lives they have touched.  We know it's more - but they they usually never even hear about one.  So...reach out.  Let a teacher know that in fact, because of their hard work and dedication and caring, you are who you are. I did this last year - found Senora Frances Pettigrew from McLean High School and let her know that in large ...

Well, I have to give a shout out to closed-captions at the gym.  In the midst of my morning cardio I caught Arne Duncan's interview on Morning Joe and was really pleased to at least "see" what he said - it looks like a promising change in policy.  Whether it comes to fruition is another story, but as a long-time proponent for doing away with NCLB since it began, it's nice to see that there may be some hope.  Here are a couple of my favorite Arne Duncan quotes from the interview: 1) "We are encouraging states to raise standards, not dummy them down like we did for NCLB" 2) " Give them a high bar, but give them a lot of flexibility to hit that high bar" 3) "What we are much more focused on rather than absolute test scores is growth and gain, progress.  How much are individual students getting better each year? Mr. Duncan gives a nice example of this growth - you are a great teacher if a student comes to you three grade levels behind and ...

There is now apparently a community site for teachers on YouTube, designed to help teachers integrate videos into classroom instruction.  The tech integration part of me is really excited by the idea - it sounds like YouTube is putting some thought behind the site as well, by including tips on organizing and using the videos to help students and spark discussion and providing ways for teachers to create their own page and identify specific videos for learing. I couldn't find information on where these videos are coming from, so I am a bit skepticle about the quality, but I see this as pretty promising support for teachers, especially as there is the inclusion of a community forum where folks can post teaching ideas and ask questions. Being curious, I had to check out the site YoutTube.com/teachers  I just did a quick look - will have to explore later, but it has a way to search and organize videos, crand offers suggestions for use in your room, let's you create y...